


i'd live and die for moments that we stole (on begged and borrowed time)

by zenithaurora



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternative Universe - No War (Avatar), Arranged Marriage, F/F, Forbidden Love, Hair Braiding, Minor Mai/Zuko, Minor Ursa/Ozai, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, azula and zuko are twins, just regular political issues, lu ten is still dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29171724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenithaurora/pseuds/zenithaurora
Summary: Yue arrives to the Fire Nation, and Azula's whole world changes.
Relationships: Azula & Ozai (Avatar), Azula & Ursa (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/Yue (Avatar), Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46
Collections: Winter ATLA Femslash Week 2021





	i'd live and die for moments that we stole (on begged and borrowed time)

**Author's Note:**

> Credits to atlaculture (tumblr) for many of the cultural references in this work (like the meaning of Yue's hair), and credits to chief-yue (tumblr) for the idea of making Azula and Zuko twins.

The sun was setting behind the calm waves, painting the clear water in odd shades of purple and peach pink. The sun gave in as thin rivulets of salt gathered on the brink of the shore. It was an unusually crisp evening for the Fire Nation.

Azula awaited, next to her brother, her father, her mother, and her uncle, for the incoming visit of Princess Yue from the Northern Water Tribe. She controlled her breathing, willing her body to warm herself up. It was as if the Fire Nation knew that someone from the water tribes was visiting and wanted to adapt itself to welcome its guests.

In the last couple of months, tensions between the Northern Water Tribe and her nation have been running high over a disputed maritime commerce route. If Azula were to be frank, she didn’t understand why she was here instead of being in the war room, discussing possible plans to stop the conflict from escalating any further. As the first female General of the Fire Nation, she had a reputation and a future legacy to uphold. Meetings and talks about how to proceed had stopped almost four weeks ago; a ceasefire to the disputes was called. According to what she was told, an agreement was reached between the two countries. However, Azula was kept in the dark about the details of the decision, as most people serving in the military were. The circumstances of the resolution of the conflict were kept hidden in tight lips in the confinements of the throne room and nowhere else.

At last, a double-hulled vessel wooden ship appeared from the horizon as the air became sharper with its torrent, cold winds. A lock of hair came at loose and Azula tried to subtlety tie it back to her topknot. She attempted to control her breathing once again with no avail. Her entire life she had been compared to her brother, and although she excelled at most areas with ease, especially when it came to firebending, one of the few things Zuko managed to surpass her on was on fire breathing to control his body temperature. Azula would rather die than admit she felt jealous about Zuko. Ever.

With the ramp already cleaned and stretched out, the princess emerged from the boat. Her unblemished, tanned skin contrasted with the blue of her dress. The right flap of it was pressed against her body, while the left flap covered most of the right side. Her sleeves, more of a lilac color, were looser on the upper arms but secured with tight cuffs at the wrists. A sash was wrapped around her slender waist, and a thick trim of white fur garnished the seams of the outer tunic.

However, what intrigued Azula was the princess’ hair. Not the way that her hair was done in two braids at the front, or even the way a part of her hair was done in two odd-shaped circles on top of her head— rather, it was the color of the hair that had caught her attention.

The princess’ hair was of an unequivocal white that resembled the gelid and inhospitable environment of her birthplace. In spite of Azula learning about the others nations like any person in the line of succession must do, she never recalled a moment in her studies that said that people from the Northern Water Tribe had white hair. She had once visited the Southern Water Tribe when she was eleven, and their hair tended to vary between a dark brunette to straight up jet black. Although there were some exceptions with lighter hair, she had never seen or even heard of someone with white hair.

Fire Lord Iroh stepped in front of them as Princess Yue neared them.

“Your Royal Highness” he welcomed her.

“Fire Lord Iroh,” she bowed, “it’s an honor to be in your presence”.

Azula almost snorted. In fact, if it wasn’t because she had been training for being a princess her entire life, she would had done just that.

_Ass-kisser._

The palanquins awaited behind them. As the norms dictated, Fire Lord Iroh sat on the first one, being followed close behind by the guest of honor, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe. Next, Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa were placed on the second one. After them, Prince Zuko, as the second in-line for the throne, was put in the following one, and finally, Princess Azula got on the last palanquin.

Although she enjoyed the rides on palanquin, if she were to be honest, it was, for the most part, completely useless. They would get to the palace a lot faster if they just did the path by foot.

 _But rules are rules,_ Azula mused sardonically.

***

She remembered in great detail the conversation that she had shared with her father two weeks prior the arrival of Princess Yue.

The country had been experiencing some turmoil regarding the commerce route conflict between the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation, ever since it had started almost a year ago. However, it was the sudden death of Prince Lu Ten, the heir to the throne, that shook the small nation to its core. Some of the elders could still recall a time in which the Fire Nation was submerged under a great conflict between the maritime settlements and the farmers from the inner areas of the country for scarce financial resources. That conflict had created massive amounts of strife and devastation across the nation, a ferocious wave of suffering and hostility that threatened to destroy the Fire Nation.

In a way, the death of the future heir to the throne created an even major source of instability and uncertainty that had haunted the lands.

It was Prince Ozai, Fire Lord Iroh’s brother, who managed to find the perfect solution to the two issues the Fire Nation were facing in that moment. In hushed voices and secrets conversations, they made a decision. Not even Azula, who was a high-ranking general and an unofficial advisor to her father, was told about the details that elapsed between the two powerful men.

Two days later, a ceasefire between the two nations was declared, and a speech stated by the grief-stricken Fire Lord was given to offer reassurance to a frightened population. As celebrations erupted all across the nation, the monarch hid in the confines of the palace, away from the bustling crowds in his time of tribulation.

As the princess (and now third in-line to the throne), Azula’s role was mostly kept in the shadows of his brother’ spotlight. It didn’t matter that she was a gifted firebender, or an incredibly capable military leader, or a pragmatical strategist, or the child that was born two and half minutes before the other sibling. Zuko was a male, which by law meant that he was the rightful heir to the throne— not Azula.

Her father convinced her she had the most important job in this whole mission: make Princess Yue from the Northern Water Tribe feel at home.

She still wasn´t sure about the cause for Princess Yue’s arrival. If anything, her father, Chief Arnook, should have been the one to come to the nation for the formal banquet of peace.

Whatever the reasons were, whatever the decisions that had taken place were, Azula was given the responsibility of doing her task.

_“That’s what people like you and I do”, her father had declared solemnly, “we don’t rejoice in the spotlight; we just manage the lights”._

Azula never did a half-assed job.

***

Azula walked down the halls of the east wing where the bedrooms destined for special guests were situated.

The walls were embellished with intricate golden and bronze shapes, some resembling dragons and fire, some, Azula still didn’t know what they meant, even after spending a lifetime hidden in this building. The dark red walls, with the addition of the heavy curtains of a similar shade of crimson, allowed no further entrance of the sunlight, thus not letting anyone appreciate the elaborate work. Sometimes she pitied these ornaments that went unnoticed with no one to admire them. Most of the times, it was no use caring about them.

She kept on her way until she reached one of the last rooms of the hallway where Princess Yue was, temporally residing. The bedchamber was one of the biggest guestrooms in the palace, and had a privileged view of the Royal Garden. All things considered; it was an optimal choice.

She waited, staring up to the colossal doors. Then she knocked once. A servant opened the door to greet her, bowed, and let her in.

Princess Yue was standing on a low stool, half a dozen servants around her. Azula stared at the roof and counted the minutes for them to finish working on the princess, but she couldn’t stop her eyes from orbiting back to her.

She was wearing an ankle-length midnight blue dress. The shade of blue contrasted deeply against the wide light turquoise stripe situated right above her knees and a similar one against her chest. Both stripes were accompanied by a thin snow-like white line, and an intrinsic white and grey mosaic was sewed just above the bottom stripe. There was also a white fur sash wrapped around her waist as well as on the rims of her loose sleeves and the bottom of the dress. Her forehead was covered by an intricate headband made out of varied blue beads, whale ivory and shells, with a wide circle in the center made out of blue jade.

It was… an intriguing sight, very pleasant to the eyes.

On the couch besides her, there was a heavy coat, presumably produced out of leather and dyed in a blue similar to her dress, with even bigger trims of white fur at the sleeves and at the neckline. Azula assumed it was probably too hot for the princess to wear it. 

Yue caught her sight, and she had to turn her eyes away from her quick. After clearing her throat, the servants went away, leaving the door ajar. The princess stood up, a difficult task if one were to consider the magnitude and the odd shape of the dress.

“Princess Azula, it’s a pleasure to finally be able to talk to you” she bowed, a few strands of hair falling out of the updo.

Princess Yue half sighed, half grunted, and sat on the chair facing the wide mirror. “Sorry, my hair doesn’t want to stay put today” she said as she attempted to rearrange her hair, but it was a futile effort.

“Let me,” Azula intervened, “my mum told me I used to have wild hair when I was kid and most servants didn’t know how to manage it”.

Yue hummed in agreement and smiled. “My mum used to say the same thing”.

Azula stared at the reflection of her azure blue eyes in the mirror. That was probably the most genuine expression she had seen on her face since she had arrived. Then again, she had only seen for less minutes before.

She grabbed a lock of her soft hair, pulling it tightly against her scalp, and kept it close to the crown of the head with the assistance of several pins.

“In my country, it’s tradition for a woman to keep her hair up as sign of adulthood,” she began breaking the silence, “only children keep their hair unbound”.

Azula wasn’t sure what to respond to that, but she remembered her father’s words. Besides, Princess Yue was surprisingly an easy person to talk to.

“In my country, only nobility and royalty are allowed to keep our hair up at all times,” she shrugged, “it’s a symbol of wealth and power”.

It was an arduous job of repeating the same motions for almost half an hour, but at last, the elaborate regal hairstyle was done. Yue moved her head up and down and from side to side. She even made a practice bow. Not a single strand of hair fell out place.

“Thank you, Princess Azula” she gave a small curtsy and smiled.

There was something incredibly alluring in the way her eyes looked at her from beneath her eyelids and her small, pink mouth seemed to be slightly open at all times. Azula shook those thoughts away, bowed in respect, and left the room to prepare herself for the banquet.

***

Yue stared at the table filled to the brims with apprehension. As a princess, she never experienced the perils and the anguish of growing up poor and starving. However, even then, she had never seen such a vastness of food. In the back of her mind, she wondered how much of it was going to be consumed and how much was going to be disposed.

“Do you need help?” Princess Azula asked, disrupting her from her thoughts.

“There’s so much food I don’t know where to start” she replied.

Azula pursed her lips, pensive about what might satisfy the palette of someone from the Water Tribes, and began. “That is iguana seal,” she pointed at an oval, metal plate with dark meat, “people don’t tend to eat it but we reserve that right, and that” she signaled with her hand, “it’s hippo-ox. Commoners usually eat hippo-cow instead. The rest are seven different types of rice and nuts, but I’m sure you’re already familiar with that” she cringed at the sound of her own voice.

_Of course she knows what rice and nuts, you imbecile._

Azula stood with her hands behind her back, not letting her thoughts betray the neutral and formal expression plastered on her face, expecting for more questions to come from the princess.

“What is this?” Yue asked, pointing at a smaller plate that contained small, round white confections that resembled mochis. However, Azula _knew_ those weren’t mochis.

She batted Yue’s eager hands away from the fire gummies. “Oh, princess, you don’t want to try this”.

“Why not?” Yue challenge.

“Those are probably too spicy for you” she cautioned

Yue lifted one eyebrow, crossed her arms in front of her, and tried to keep her lips from turning upwards. “Is that a dare?”.

The princess did not give her enough time to answer back, when she picked a handful of fire gummies and shoved them in her mouth. Almost in an instant, her eyes began to water, and a red blush took over her whole face. Yue was hiccupping, with actual tears falling from her red-rimmed eyes.

Azula picked the jug filled to its brinks with hippo-cow milk with honey and practically shoved it down Yue’s throat, who almost choked on the liquid, which stopped the hiccupping but lead to a fit of loud coughing instead.

The ridiculousness of the situation made Azula laughed internally, and she almost bursted out laughing when she thought of how the event must look from an outsider’s point of view. She held back suddenly, reminding herself that she had the _one_ task of making Princess Yue feel welcome, and she might had just messed it up.

Yue finished gulping down her honey milk, some tears still tracing down the slope of her cheek. “I think I just burned my tastebuds”.

They stared at each other for one moment, and then Yue began guffawing. Azula tried to hold her laugh, but in the end, she caved in and joined her.

A servant creeped on them and interrupted them. “Princess Azula, Princess Yue, Fire Lord Iroh is requesting for everyone to return to their seats”.

Azula sat on the high table, right next to her mother. Fire Lord Iroh was on the center, sitting on the higher chair, with Princess Yue at his left and Prince Zuko at his right. Her back was straight against the iron splat and her hands were limp on her lap.

She recalled to a time back when she was a child and still on daily etiquette lessons. _Utkatasana_ and _Malasana_ poses were enforced every morning at the break of dawn with no foreseeable end, and she had to walk for the remaining of the day with a book precariously balancing on her head to improve her posture. Peck her mouth with a handkerchief instead of rubbing her face with it, crossing her ankles when sitting.

Her mother had told her how important it was for a princess to learn how to behave in front of her subordinates, but she didn’t understand why she should learn all these useless manners when she could had spent more time learning about relevant matters.

At last, the bustle of the ballroom died out to a low murmur. Fire Lord Iroh stood up and cleared her throat, calling the attention of every presence in the room towards him. Her stomach felt on fire out all of a sudden, and she couldn’t help but glare at her uncle. She wished she could command people´s attention like that.

“Everyone,” he began saying solemnly, “we’re gathered here in this evening blessed by Agni to celebrate the truce between the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation”.

Although murmurs of agreement could be heard taking over the ballroom, Azula, as most high-ranking generals and nobles, knew that couldn’t be the only reason for why her uncle would gather them all together in such a short notice. As if she had anticipated it, the speech continued.

“However, that it’s only one reason to celebrate tonight”.

The atmosphere in the room changed from one of tranquility to one of confusion and newly-set uncertainty.

“In spite of the animosity that had existed between our nation and the Northern Water Tribe these last couple of months, we are happy to announce that we had reached a solution that will bring peace and unity to all of us”.

Azula looked at her uncle puzzled. _Maybe this is what he and my father were talking about all those weeks before._

“I am honored to introduce Princess Yue from the Northern Water Tribe, and her engagement to Prince Zuko”.

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on 'Ivy' by Taylor Swift.


End file.
